The end of the beginning
by Frosty chunky and insane
Summary: better summary inside (no really its way better). sage of six paths makes a choice, a choice to change things and maybe do some good. will it work? or will it fail?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:The pact

A/N: Hey guys so i thought i would give you a little context for this story or else it might get a little confusing. Naruto and Izuna (yes no sasuke… yet, there's a reason for that but you have to wait for now) are sent to the Naruto timeline from their own after they kill each other, by the sage of six paths to end the feud of his sons (Izuna is a girl by the way) once and for all. Their original timeline is non stop war and the hidden villages never existed, so they have no knowledge of this new world they find themselves in. Naruto has the same parents as he did originally but Izuna has a change, Mikoto (her mother) is a Hyuga main family member. It was a marriage arrangement to improve relations between the clans, as a result Izuna and Itachi have a different dojutsu. (Sharakugon though i am open to suggestions on a new name) it's a combination of the Sharingan and the Byakugan, Basically it has the veins and the colour of the latter but the appearance of the former. The fine details of it will be touched on further into the story,so while Naruto and Izuna have memories of their past, their strength does not carry over. However due to their extensive combat experience they will gain strength very fast, also they still know all their old techniques so with some training they will be getting back to their old selves rather quickly. So onto what i figure people may ask, Naruto did have the fox in his past life with all its power (kurama cloak) but he will not be able to access it until his seal is unlocked, which means unless Jariya gives him the key he will have to make do with the cloak he used against orochimaru in cannon. Izuna had the eternal Mangekyou but again she will not have this in her new world, once her eyes fully mature she will have her mongyekyo but it won't be eternal. This has been a long ass intro thingy but i felt like it had to be said, i'll try to answer questions at the start of future chapters, i also don't care if you guys hate the story or whatever feel free to say what you want in reviews and stuff and any suggestions will be taken on board and considered… thanks guys on with the content.

**The End And The Beginning**

They awoke to the sound of dripping water and the feeling of peace, which was odd considering they had just been in pure agony. Izuna remembered having her arm blown off in the last clash as well as her chest caving in, she also remembered cutting Naruto in half… almost in half but he was definitely dead before her. Naruto remembered much the same but he wasn't confused as to where he was, he came here all the time after all. He turned his head and saw Izuna lying in the water looking back at him, she was clearly confused and now he was to.

'**How did she get here' **he thought to himself although he didn't need to think for long.  
"So you're awake, please join me i wish to speak to you both" the deep voice rang out in vast empty room, a light echo bouncing around them. This made Naruto smile, he never noticed an echo before and figured whoever was speaking was creating the echo on purpose.

Naruto and Izuna sat up and turned to the source of the voice, an old man with grey skin, two rinnegan and a third blood red eye on his forehead stared back at them with mild interest written all over his pale face. Black orbs floated behind him and a black staff held in his right hand, Izuna glanced around for a brief second to check her surroundings and frowned, there weren't any.

"Before you speak allow me to introduce myself, i am Hugaromo otsutsuki however you know me as the sage of six paths." Naruto and Izuna opened their mouths to speak but then closed them, not knowing what to say or where this was going.  
"I understand if you have trouble believing me but this is the truth, I came to offer you both a way out of the endless war of your world. I can send you to a new one, a better one however only if you both desire a new start." he spoke softly but his voice easily carried to them both.

Izuna didn't believe such kindness existed she also wasn't sure if this was even real, she looked at Naruto who looked back at her with the same question in his eyes, Izuna looked back at the grey sage and asked what was on both of their minds.  
"What exactly do you get out of this?" she asked the sage glanced at her with a frown before she continued "No one would do something like this without a motive, so what's the catch?" the sage nodded his head and spoke.

"Very well… i will explain i wish to end the never ending war brought on by my mistake, i will not go into detail however this blood is on my hands and i wish to end it… with you, both of you."  
Izuna and Naruto thought long and hard over his words they both hated war, they had clashed countless times over the years and killed each other's friends and family but despite this they never truly hated each other. They respected each other's strength and skill but never more so than in that last fight where at the very end they died smiling as they finally killed the other and where free from war, free from pain and free from each other. But now that was gone and they had a chance to live a better life, but with one catch they both go to this world together.

"I don't suppose you can tell us about this new world?" Naruto asked he hadn't spoken since they arrived.

"I'm afraid i cant you will learn of the world they same way everyone else dose, i will say this, the world is not without conflict."

'**Was that deliberately vague?' **Izuna and Naruto asked themselves in unison.

Naruto broke the silence first "Im in" he stated with confidence, the sage smiled at him and looked to Izuna she was at a loss. She had died and had been happy to be free, but now she wanted to take a chance at a new start but at the same time wanted to pass on and rejoin her family in the afterlife. She knew they would want her to live on but… is that what she truly wanted? After some time passed she looked at the sage and nodded her head, that was all he needed.

"Before i send you off i will tell you that your strength will not follow you, whether you wish to re-obtain it is your choice. Brace yourselves." The sages last words echoed through the room Naruto glanced at Izuna who had her eyes closed and was slowly fading into light blue light, he looked down and saw it was happening to him now, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"Your kidding right? Go get the clan head now!" Izuna heard this while looking around she could tell she was in a hospital, she also knew she was using her dojutsu because she could feel her tiny chakra reserves straining. She could see all around her 360% although she knew it was only the first stage of her eyes development because of the small range.

She looked to the door and saw her father rush in (Fugaku) following behind was Itachi her older brother, her father picked her up and stared in disbelief, never had an uchiha or a hyuga baby unlocked their dojutsu at birth. Yet here he was holding his baby girl who had done just that, he couldn't believe it he never thought his second child would be able to live up to Itachi but here she was a newborn and already making his jaw drop.

"Great things await you my child, I can already see it clear as day you will make me proud." Izuna was a little conflicted. She was so happy to see her father (but as a baby couldn't really show it) but on the other hand his first words to her, in front of her brother no less were those of the clan head and not as a father. Although she knew her father better than that he had loved her like any father, he just couldn't express it well.

**Itachi**

Itachi was shocked to say the least when he saw his sister for the first time, she had awakened her eyes at birth. He himself had only awakened them last week at seven years old, he wasn't jealous though he was afraid. He didn't want her used as some tool for the clan, he vowed right then and there to push himself to be the very best of the clan. To take all the attention off his sister so she can live without worry or fear of the elders, he wanted her to live a happy life which is something most Uchiha don't get.

All these thoughts passed through his young but mature mind in just a second or two, with his face showing no signs of such thoughts. His mask of indifference was perfect as was expected of the hair to the clan.

**Five Years Later**

Itachi was frustrated Izuna was a true prodigy, one year after she was born she could speak in full sentences, sure the words weren't always perfect but she was easy to understand. She had shocked him and his father while they were discussing clan affairs when she just started talking. The very first time she threw a shuriken or a kunie it was a bullseye and she had never missed since, once her training started properly she improved by leaps and bounds.

Itachi was working himself ragged to take eyes off of her but it wasn't working anymore, she was too talented for that. She asked him if they could train together every time she saw him, he would just poke her head and make excuses but she was always content to simply sit and talk with him about anything that came to her. It was one of the few times she ever truly smiled, their mother was the only other person that could make her smile.

Itachi would sometimes watch her train by herself, he didn't think anybody knew she was doing it so he never brought it up but what he saw further frustrated him. He watched as she practiced the fire style techniques, he was baffled at how she knew them. No one had taught her yet and some of them even he didn't know, he considered that she was just experimenting with hand signs and chakra manipulation but then thought better of it. She was using the jutsu like a master, he was almost angry.

But what made Itachi truly upset at his sister was when she turned five she had fully matured her eyes, Itachi had as well but she was only five. All his efforts felt pointless she was the talk of the clan and he was hearing whispers about her skipping the academy all together. This all fueled Itachi's anger he wanted to keep her from this, the elders were probably talking about getting her sent to anbu already which would put her far to close to Danzo and Itachi would rather die.

**The Massacre: Izuna**

Izuna was walking home late tonight she had been training all day and thinking about this new world, all in all she rather liked it. The village system was rather clever in her opinion and the clans were on much better terms. She still hadn't seen Naruto since getting here but he was likely in another village and she hasn't really explored this place well. She was focused on training and enjoying herself, she even smiles sometimes which is way more than in her past life. She hasn't used her mongyekyo since she matured her eyes, mostly because she doesn't actually have enough chakra to use it.

Her eyes were different than she remembers when she matured them in her last life she could see two kilometres in any direction, but now she could only see about fifty metres or so. She figured it was because of her age and chakra reserves but didn't know for sure. She also wondered why her brother did so many missions, in a world at peace you would think there would be less work for ninja but no apparently not. She was keen to start at the academy, her father kept her out so far only saying that it would waste her time but she was sure to convince him to let her go eventually.

She was brought out of her thoughts by… a feeling, something she had almost forgotten in this world of peace… danger. She activated her sharakugon and scanned the area but found nothing, but she noticed the lack of any sound in the district. Something was happening she ran through the streets lit only by the moonlight, she noticed a body and blood and knew her instincts were right.

She kept moving at a fast pace passing body after body in the streets while working her way home. When she made it to her house she jumped on the adjacent wall and pulled out a kunai, though she didn't remember why and pushed off as hard as she could. With her speed and strength she burst through the doors and clashed with another blade, she attacked with reckless fury, punches kicks, slashes and stabs. She only stopped when the other blade slashed across her face and down her neck (kinda like kylo ren's injury in star wars)

She took the time to size up her opponent and look around her house, she pushed her parents dead bodies to the back of her mind a very good skill she learned in the war. Then she realized who was standing against her, covered in blood and wearing his anbu gear it was Itachi. She began sweating and panting in pure rage, then trembling then she lost it.

"ITACHI!" she screamed at the top of her lungs she started making hand signs for the chidori that she had re-learned but was stopped in an instant by one word.

"Tsukuyomi" she watched in horror as her brother showed her the deaths of everyone she knew over and over for what felt like eternity, once it was finely finished tears streamed down her face and she collapsed face first into the blood soaked floor.

"Why?" she asked before passing out, Itachi looked to her with pain in his eyes and without another word he left praying that she will suffer no more but knowing this was not possible.

Izuna was in a coma for two weeks following the massacre, the Hokage had told her what happened even though she already knew. He had told her a few days later that she was enrolled at the academy, the Hokage wanted her to be around others her age he thought it might help. She had skipped her first day and went to think, she couldn't understand why her brother did this. In both her lives he was a great man, someone so kind and loving, so why had he done this? She didn't know and that bothered her to no end, she also wondered how he pulled it off, he was strong sure but the whole clan in one night? No alarm? No fighting? And what about the anbu that patrolled the village? There was no way they didn't notice anything… right?

She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of footsteps approaching, she was sitting on a peer over a lake watching her reflection in the water, bright blond appeared next to her in the water.

"No way" she said in disbelief as she turned to look at Naruto, he was standing there a grin on his face. "We ended up in the same village" she said more to herself than to him, but his grin widened.

"Yo, I honestly didn't think I'd see you again." She turned back to the lake before responding.

"Don't act like your happy, i did kill you after all" he moved closer.

"Yeah and i killed you too, move on already we aren't enemies anymore." she turned back to him a little annoyed.

"You expect me to believe you just moved on, yeah right." she stated a little harsher than intended but no less true.

"Not at first no, but i've been here for years and with time i moved past it. But… i've never been good at holding grudges anyway so… lets start over im Naruto Uzumaki, and the furry asshole sealed in me is Kurama." Izuna was a little surprised by this but in truth she had been forgetting her old feelings gradually since coming here.

"Fine im Izuna Hyuga Uchiha, but this doesn't make us friends." she stated firmly after that day they would ocasinaly train together, Izuna noticed he avoided topics like family whenever possible which she silently appreciated. He knew her family was dead and didn't want to bring it up, it was quite nice for a former arch enemy to do. All throughout the academy they dominated the others in everything practical, Izuna and Naruto were tied at the top of the class. She made no real friends whilst attending although she did play shogi with Shikamaru a lot, with him winning most of the time but not always. Kiba would hit on her all the time but she would just ignore it, Sakara and Ino basically joined at the hip would always talk to her but she couldn't figure out why, she had never once spoken to either of them throughout all her time in the academy yet they acted like they were friends.

Naruto and Shikamaru were the only students she spoke to, not because she hated everyone else but they seemed to understand her without having to speak at all. She would always catch Hinata staring at her when Naruto was around, though she didn't care to ask. She was happy when the genin exams finally arrived, she could leave the village on missions and maybe track down Itachi for some answers. Though secretly for some reason she hopped Naruto would be on her team, though she denied it to herself right after.

**Squad Seven**

Naruto and Izuan had been put on the same squad after all and she couldn't help a smirk after hearing it, but it disappeared when Sakura had been announced as her other teammate. She didn't hate Sakura but she knew she wasn't very good at being a ninja, at least compared to her and Naruto. But that isn't a fair comparison her and Naruto have years of war under their belt and Sakura didn't so she decided to try and be… civil.

After about two hours of waiting she was very unhappy, but didn't show it her mask was perfect after all. She knew Kakashi in her last life. His clan was an ally of the Uchiha and he trained her to use the chidori, but he was never late back then not even by a second so what was different here? She didn't know but figured it must have been something big. Naruto was pissed off and very vocal about it Sakura was just trying not scream in rage, Naruto was saying all kinds of things under his breath usually ending with "then ill cut them off" it was all very amusing.

Then in he walked looking almost the same as she remembered except for the headband covering his eye.

"Sorry i'm late i stopped to help an old lady with her groceries." he spoke softly in a bored tone not even looking at them, Sakura was furious at his lame excuse but said nothing. Naruto was grinning like a mad man and Izuna looked indifferent as normal.

"Meet me on the roof in five miutes." he said then poofed Izuna didn't realize it was a shadow clone until it disappeared but she should have guessed he did always like them.

**Kakashi **

After his clone popped he took in the memories slowly going over all the details in his head, he took in Izuna first long black spiky hair in a ponytail with two large bangs framing her face reaching just past her chin while her ponytail hangs below her neck. Her eyes weren't large like the hyugas but they definitely looked like them, ironic that she would appear blind but have better vision than almost everyone. her outfit was interesting designed for combat, her top was cut just below her breasts showing off most of her stomach jet black with a zipper at the back. Long Hakama pants also black no shoes but instead wrapped ankles in black bandages, Gloves that reached almost to the elbows with purple trim and fingerless and finally two, one handed katanas on her left hip strapped by a purple sash Kakashi had be told they were chakra blades and that the blades themselves were pure purple. All in all he was impressed by her appearance

He moved on to Naruto, his sensei's son and he really looked the part too. A long black jacket one of his arms was wrapped entirely in bandages and long orange pants (just picture what he looks like in the last). Finally on to Sakura (she looks the same as cannon)

He watched as Naruto was the first to arrive and site in front of him followed by Sakura, Izuna wasn't with them and as he was about to ask them where she was he saw a grin on Naruto's face and realized that maybe this team was going to be the death of him. So he just started reading his book not caring how long this took he did have plenty of books after all.

It was exactly fifteen minutes later when Izuna took her seat next to the others.

"Your late" he said straight faced.

"Sorry i thought i would follow your example and help an old lady with her shopping."

'**Cheeky' **he thought to himself "introduce yourselves and tell me a little about you before i spot someone who needs help and leave you here for another hour. Oh and your dreams for the future." he said with an eye smile.

"Naruto Uzumaki, i like ramen, i don't like the way the village treats me, the only thing i consider a hobby is comparing how good ramen is at different restaurants. As for a dream… well i'll let you know when i think of one.

Kakashi took this all in trying to dig through his words and hear what he didn't say, he knows Naruto hasn't been treated well by the village but he also knows he didn't take the abuse lying down. He had put many people in hospital over the years, in self defence of course he never attacked anyone but he wasn't shy about hurting them either. "Pinky your next"

She was clearly upset with the nickname but didn't comment on it. "Sakura Haruno and i like hanging out with my friend Ino, i don't like the nickname she calls me though. I don't really have a hobby but i have dream, i want to become a jonin." she said the last part while baling her fist in a determined gesture. Kakashi like the energy but didn't say anything he simply looked at Izuna.

"Izuna Hyuga Uchiha, my hobbies are playing shogi with Shikamaru, reading and training. My dream is to find answers." Kakashi figured it was about the massacre but was surprised by her answer, she wanted answers and not revenge.

"Meet me at training ground seven at five-am. Don't be late." he said the last past staring at Izuna who in turn smirked at him, she was going to push his buttons he could feel it. He them disappeared from sight leaving them alone.

**Naruto**

Naruto to put it lightly was pissed off, he had been waiting with Sakura for four hours now and Kakashi still wasn't there and neither was Izuna. Cursing the whole time about what he will do for payback he continued to wait, Sakura was much the same just less vocal about it. Naruto started to drift into thought about this new world while he continued to wait.

He liked this place very much though he didn't like how he was treated, in his old life people hated him too but they always respected him as a ninja so he didn't suffer abuse like he did here. But even though he suffered he still enjoyed this life, not fighting a war everyday is a great trade off for a little misery. The people at the academy were all good people too. He only knew shino in his past life though but he was more or less the same. The real big difference was Izuna, despite the constant blood shed from his old life he knew nothing about her back then but now. He had to admit he kind of liked her, she was sarcastic, strong and pretty, and she was also a great training partner. But more than that even when they don't talk just being around her made him comfortable and he thinks she feels the same.

He doesn't know if they are friends but they definitely aren't enemies in this world and that was enough for him. He was brought out of his thoughts by Izuna appearing next to him in a feat of impressive speed.

"Your late" he said quietly but loud enough for Sakura to hear, who only just now noticed her arrival.

"And yet i still arrived before Kakashi" she stated as if it didn't matter, Sakura spoke up next.

"You can't just go against orders like that."

"I don't remember him giving any orders, plus if he isn't going to arrive on time neither will I, i have better things to do than sit and wait." Sakura turned a little red and stopped talking after Naruto burst out laughing, though Izuna would never admit it she was only doing this to get a rise out of Kakashi.

Naruto knew she would do this and simply let her be, he found funny as hell after all. Then in poof of smoke arrived Kakashi.

**Kakashi**

He had arrived before Izuna but stayed hidden to see how long she would take, he found this little act of spite amusing because no other genin ever dared to try. Secretly he was starting to like this team, it wasn't long before she arrived five minutes tops. He found her timing impressive and wondered if she already knew how late he usually was to things like this. After they finished talking he made his entrance.

"Sorry i'm late a black cat crossed my path so i took a different route." when that failed to get even so much a scoff he pressed on showing them two bells. "Alright it's time to start the real genin exams, get these bells from me by twelve-pm. Anyone who fails to do this will go back to the academy."

**Izuna**

She saw through the act immediately she had done her research, genin teams are three genin and one jonin each which means that he is lying. She also figured that being late may have been to get them angry so they turn on each other in order to pass, which means that the goal here was team work. All this went through her head as Sakura was asking Kakashi questions along with Naruto, she stayed silent thinking of a solution. Which was obvious but she didn't want to work as a team. Not because she didn't like them or think them worthy, it was because the person she trusted most in this world betrayed her. So if she couldn't trust Itachi how could she trust anyone else, she decided to do it alone and see what happens if she failed that was fine by her, she wanted answers but she wasn't in a big hurry to get them.

"Ready start"

A/N: yes i know this is a little fast but i never liked how some fics spent so long on childhood stuff where nothing happens. I just wanted to get it out of the way and maybe show more through flashbacks but that's up to you guys. And i won't put sensei after Kakashi's name because that's annoying so just pretend i'm doing it. Itachi is stronger in this timeline because of Izunas growth rate and Naruto is not the same as in canon, he has seen war and killed a lot of people so he isn't too worried about hurting people but he isn't totally different. He still saved Hinata as a kid but this time he kicked their asses so she is even more infatuated. Also Izuna is not just a female Sauske so she isn't the revenge crazed emo he was (i don't hate his character just saying) she is more like a Nara, she thinks things through and considers other options. She has also already been through a cycle of hatred in her past life so she knows how to deal with it better. Also not opposed to major character death i would love to hear some suggestions if you guys want some drama like that. Again review and ask questions say what you won't all criticism is valid to me even if you just hate everything about this let me know why i'm interested in that stuff. And lastly thank you for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Lesson learned

**Kakashi**

He watched in mild interest as Izuna and Naruto vanished from sight, slightly impressed by their speed and Sakura well… she wasn't hard to track. He reached for his book in his back pocket and started reading but always alert for danger. He knew where Sakura and Naruto were but he lost track of Izuna, he didn't even know which direction she went.

It wasn't long before he lost track of Naruto too, he hadn't turned the page since he took out his book and he thought that sadly he might not get to read for the rest of the afternoon. He sighed quietly to himself and put it away, convinced an attack was about to come.

A crimson chakra arm came shooting out of the bush at blinding speeds, he uncovered his sharingan and dogged to the left, mind working furiously.

'**Was that the nine tails chakra? Could he really be able to control it this well if it was?' **he was brought out of his thoughts as more arms came crashing around him, he was avoiding all of them with a little difficulty. Then one came from below and reached for the bells, he was able to doge but just barely.

Naruto came at him from the shadows moving way too fast for a genin, Kakashi crossed his arms as Naruto's head slammed into them sending him sliding back about ten feet. Then he launched into an impressive display of taijutsu, he fought like an animal. Wild and unpredictable slashes with his claws and kicks with wild punches and flips. He blocked and avoided most of it but was cut on his cheek from a slash.

Kakashi was ready for another attack from Naruto but was shocked when one of Izuna's blades came shooting towards him from the side, he pulled out a kunai and blocked it. He was looking directly into Izunas Sharakugon, spinning almost lazily, she smirked. Then he was fighting against her one on one while Naruto sat and watched with a smile on his face. She was fierce and fought with the grace of a swordmaster, he was very impressed and couldn't counter attack at all, she left no openings.

Then she jumped back making hand signs "fire style: fire dragon jutsu" she said while taking a deep breath, the she expelled it. A huge fire dragon came barreling towards Kakashi.

"Earth style: mud wall" he said after making the hand signs, a wall of earth sprang forth and protected him from the flames as they blazed around him. Once the attack was finished he leaped back to avoid one of her blades piercing the wall right where his head had been. He felt a presence behind him and turned to block her blade again, her blade was coated in a thin flame. His eyes grew wide and substituted with a log as her bladed sliced through his knife, he was actually sweating now.

Then three Izuna's burst through the earth around him, he was impressed again she could use shadow clones. He fought them slashing and dogging punching and kicking but he couldn't pop any of them. They had also stopped trying to kill him unlike the original had a few moments ago which he found strange. After a few minutes of this back and forth he was begging to feel tired from using his sharingan, that's when he saw the original Izuna standing with her arms crossed and a shit eating grin on her face, just watching him.

Then two bells dropped out of her mouth into her hand, he looked down to see if she had actually stolen them from him. She hadn't and he was confused but then it clicked the moment before her foot slammed into his chin, he felt her take the bells in the same instinct and went flying through the trees about thirty feet away. 

'**Did I really just fall for an amature trick like that? I take it back I don't like this team at all.'** he thought to himself while rubbing his injured chin. He could hear Naruto laughing his ass off in the distance and Sakura asking a million questions about how they did all that. He decided that since she got the bells he would pass them but he still had to make a point, they didn't even try to work together and that had to change.

**Sakura**

She couldn't believe what she just happened, she knew Naruto and Izuna were strong but this… no way did she think they could take a jonin. She had always admired their strength and skill but she realised how much they held back around everyone else and it blew her mind.

"Alright very good, lets go and eat lunch we need to have a little talk." Sakura was a little upset that she failed the test but was happy that Izuna passed, she watched her throw the bells back to Kakashi and he caught them without looking. They walked over to the three post on the grounds and sat down, Kakashi looked at Sakura for a brief moment and she felt guilty for not doing anything in that fight.

**Izuna**

Izuna sat down with a mix of annoyance and pride, she was annoyed that such a simple trick worked on Kakashi but proud of herself for thinking outside the box, she never used tactics like this in her old life… she didn't need to. Although she could have beaten him without them, he was not even close to as strong as the Kakashi from her old time. Though she did hold back against him he was much harder to fight than she expected, he was good with that eye of his.

"Now as you saw, Izuna managed to get both bells. However the bells were not the true objective of this test." Izuna knew this already and she was sure Naruto figured it out too, but Sakura was loud and confused.

"What do you mean? Then what was the point in all this." Izuna decided to speak up.

"It was teamwork Sakura, I'm thinking his original plan was to beat us all then, in a really dramatic fashion hammer that point home. Then give us one more chance to prove ourselves, right Kakashi?"

**Kakashi**

Kakashi was a little depressed now, she had seen through everything. Not only that she spoiled the fun part and now he didn't know how to send that message to them.

"If you knew all that then why didn't say anything to the others." he asked in a defeated tone. 

"It's not that i don't get what your going for, I just have a little trust issues. I'm sure you know why." Izuna said while looking at him in his lone eye, he nodded his head a few times.

"Look i get it but if you can't trust the person at your back, then all you end up doing is hurting yourself. If your waiting for a knife in the back you won't see the one coming for your front." Izuna knew this already, she had lived through it during the war but nodded her head anyway. Kakashi then looked at Naruto.

"What about you? Why didn't you try to fight with the others?" Naruto blushed slightly before responding.

"Ahh… i was going to help Izuna but then i got… caught up watching her kick your ass." he started to giggle after saying this as did Sakura. Izuna looked at him with a question in her eyes but Kakashi spoke before she could.

"What about you Sakura?" she looked down before answering him.

"Well to be honest, I thought i would just get in the way." she said honestly. Kakashi took all this in and decided that he would pass his team but they would be drilling teamwork whenever possible.

**Naruto**

After Kakashi had talked to them about teamwork and trust Naruto had been starving.

"Hey guys, what do you say we get something to eat as a team." Sakura just smiled and agreed immediately but Izuna was less enthusiastic about this, unlike Sakura she knew where he wanted to go.

"Only if it's not ramen." she stated firmly and Naruto burst into fake tears.

"Come on Izuna i thought we were friends."

"I remember no such thing." she said with a small almost invisible smile but Naruto caught it.

"Fine but you're paying." Izuna lost her smile and grunted curses under breath. Sakura was trying not to laugh, she found this whole thing adorable. Naruto wondered if Izuna actually considered him a friend or not, he hoped she did after all she was the only one he could talk to about his past life and her to him. Though they didn't really do that much, only once or twice so far.

He often wondered what her old life was like off the battlefield but never asked her, nor she him. They finally arrived at the restaurant and ordered their food, Sakura was talking but he was too lost in thought to listen. Once their food arrived they ate in comfortable silence, and when they were finished Izuna paid the bill.

**Kakashi**

It had been a few weeks since they had formed team seven and one thing was clear, they all hated D-ranks. After the first two Naruto and Izuna started making shadow clones to do them so they could go train. Kakashi wasn't happy about this at first but was stopped in his tracks after Naruto and Izuna said that the clones shared their experience, so technically they were doing the missions themselves. He had to admit they had a point.

He noticed some results of their extra training also, Sakura had taken some advice from Naruto and Izuna and started practicing her taijutsu since she was really lacking in that area. Izuna and Naruto had been working on some combo jutsu involving wind and fire, they also trained in fighting side by side until they could fight without ever getting in each other's way. Sakura had less dedication than them but Kakashi was rather impressed by their attitudes and decided to take them on a C-rank.

A/N: again pretty rushed but that's mainly because nothing really changes all that much in this section, but change is coming. Also i don't have a set schedule or anything so chapters might come out everyday or maybe twice a day im not really sure. Anyway thanks guys.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Making waves

**Izuna **

Izuna was feeling… bored, the team had done nothing but train and D-rank missions. While she enjoyed training she hated D-ranks. Yet here she was listening to the Hokage list off more D-ranks and dreading the task to come. She could tell Naruto and Sakura felt much the same but didn't hide it well.

"Lord Hokage, i believe my team is more than capable of taking on a C-rank mission." Kakashi spoke with his usual bored tone, this surprised Izuna she wasn't expecting him of all people to ask for a harder mission. She was glad though and the looks on Naruto and Sakuras face told her they were too.

"Well i don't doubt that, there is one here that might interest you." The old man responded after taking a long drag on his pipe.

"Finally! Something interesting." Naruto yelled out, this made Izuna smirk. He didn't hide his emotions but he also didn't go out of his way to express them either, she found it rather charming in a childish sort of way.

Then the client walked in and Naruto went back to looking annoyed, the man was drunk off his ass and still drinking. Smelling of piss and sweat. "Your kidding right? Kids? How the hell are they supposed to keep me safe?" he spoke with a heavy slur, his breath was worse than Izuna imagined.

"This is Tazuna, you are to escort him to the land of waves and protect him while he builds a bridge." the hokage said in answer to Kakashi's silent question.

"No way, i want actual protection there's no way these kids are ninja." Tazuna spoke again, Izuna was finding his voice to be very annoying.

"Tazuna i suggest you show us a little more respect, after all whether you survive the trip… depends on us." Tazuna looked at the girl who spoke, her eyes were different and intimidating. Large veins and the side of her head making her seem even more terrifying.

"Did… did you just threaten me?" he asked voice trembling just a little.

"I don't make threats." she replied simply her eyes returning to normal, Tazuna opened his mouth then closed it a few times but said nothing his brain refused to supply words to speak.

"I apologise for my students' implications, but you are in good hands these three arnt exactly pushovers and im a jonin so you don't need to worry."

**Naruto**

Naruto was once again pissed off at Kakashi and Izuna, he and Sakura had been waiting at the gate for over an hour now.

"Where the hell are they." he growled while tapping his foot over and over in irritation.

"Calm down Naruto, getting angry won't make them any faster." Sakura stated in her own annoyed tone.

"You know i've been here for about twenty minutes." Naruto heard Izuna speak and looked up, Sakura was at a loss for words and Naruto was smirking. She was sitting on the wall above them using chakra to stick to the wall, her legs were crossed and her eyes were closed, she looked very relaxed.

"Izuna? How are you doing that?" Sakura asked she rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"Chakra control." Izuna responded simply Naruto looked back towards the village and saw Kakashi walking slowly towards them.

**Kakashi**

They had been walking rather slowly for hours now, and Kakashi was keeping his senses open for any possible threat. He noticed Izuna and Naruto doing much the same and was silently praising them for it, he had noticed how good these two were from the start and he still had trouble believing it. Especially Naruto, he had no trainers growing up except from the academy, yet he was stronger and more skilled than everyone except Izuna.

As he was thinking this he and his team walked past a puddle on the side of the trail, he knew what was to come and decided to test the team and gather some intelligence at the same time. Two ninja came charging at Kakashi from behind and cut him to pieces with their chains.

Kakashi watched from the trees as Sakura got between the ninja and the client with a kunai in hand, he was glad she didn't hesitate. He didn't expect Naruto and Izuna to stand there with their arms crossed, staring at the threat that killed their sensei. The two ninja charged at the closest body, that being Izuna and she didn't even flinch at the incoming danger.

When they got within arms reach she launched forward with a thundering punch to the abdomen, the one she struck cofed blood and went sailing backwards. His body slammed into a tree not far from Kakashi and didn't move further, the other ninja was dragged along for the ride and looked very upset. Naruto appeared to his left and slugged him across the face with a left hook, he went sailing into another tree dragging the other unconscious ninja with him.

Kakashi decided to step out after this. "Not bad, good job everyone." he said with that lone eye looking between them with pride.

"Please they werent exactly a threat." Izuna stated, Kakashi didn't like this attitude, arrogance can get even the best ninja killed.

"Confidence is one thing, but don't let it go to your head. Even the best can fall from the wrong attitude." Izuna nodded her head as if she had heard a similar speech a million times. He found himself once again thinking about her and Naruto, they handle themselves like they have seen it all. They seem to know what to do at all times and are years ahead of the others in their age group. Naruto had tied up the two enemy ninja while he was lost in thought, they were once again awake and sending insults at everyone around them.

Izuna knelt down to their eye level and activated her sharakugon. "Why did you attack us?" she asked while looking into their eyes casting a genjutsu. The two told them that they were after the bridge builder and that they worked for a man named Gato, after some words with Tazuna the team decided to continue on mission.

**Izuna**

Izuna was actually enjoying this mission, the two mist brothers who attacked them werent really a threat but just getting into a battle situation like that was… nostalgic. Her team had continued on mission and hadn't run into any other threats since. She wondered if any other ninja would attack them, Kakashi seemed to think so and that they would be a jonin but she wasn't so sure.

There wasn't much talking once the group started moving again and even less as time went on but this didn't bother anyone though. After a long while of traveling she could sense it, someone was watching them, she activated her dojutsu for a few seconds and scanned the area looking for the silent stalker. She found him hiding in the trees, his chakra looked weak and he had a large blade strapped to his back. She took a moment to fully see this man then turned her eyes back to normal.

She could see that Naruto or most likely Kurama had sensed this man also, Sakura didn't seem to notice though that wasn't surprising in the least. She couldn't tell if Kakashi was aware of the stalker but figured he was. Then she could hear it, the sound of a blade slicing through the air, headed right for them.

"Get down." Kakashi yelled as he tackled Sakura and Tazuna to the ground, Naruto and Izuna just crouched down looking casual as always. The blade wedged itself into a tree and the man who threw it landed on it. Izuna thought as far as entrenceses went this was a good one.

"Well would you look at that, that's a nice blade. I think i'll take it." Naruto said while looking at the newcomer with excitement.

"Ha, go ahead and try." the newcomer stated in a cold tone.

"Stand back everyone, ill take care of him." Kakashi said while lifting his headband, uncovering his eye.

Izuna watched the fight and thought it was very slow and dull, Kakashi in her time was a total powerhouse. But here he was slow and weak, he wasn't a pushover thanks to his sharingan but he wasn't anywhere near the level she knew and respected. She watched as the two went back and forth and as he was caught in a water prison she sighed heavily and walked towards Zabuza.

"Izuna take the others and run, this guy is a jonin." Kakashi said in a slightly panicked voice. Izuna just giggled and kept walking forward. Zabuza just started laughing his ass off and created a water clone to test her metal. She walked right up to it arms crossed looking like she was having the time of her life. The clone swung it's blade as hard as it could in a downward stroke, Izuna raised her hand and caught the blade with ease, she knew a water clone only had ten percent of the original strength and that was obismil at best. She punched the clone lighty in the chest and it exploded into a shower of water.

Then she made the hand signs for the fireball jutsu and took a breath, she let a small ball of fire fly towards the demon of the mist. He cut the ball in half with one swing and just as he was about to laugh he saw Izuna right in front of him, he hadn't even seen her move. She grabbed his arm holding his blade turned it towards the sky and drove her knee into the elbow, breaking his arm. He let out a cry of pain and brought his other arm out of the water prison to grab her, but Kakashi stopped him and he was trapped.

Izuna took his blade and jumped away leaving the rest to her sensei, she admired the blade but handed it to Naruto who had expressed interest in it earlier.

"I could have taken it myself you know." he said a little irritated Izuna just smiled at him, a real smile. She quickly clamped down on this but Naruto had seen it and she knew it. The fight between Kakashi and Zabuza was short and ended in a strange way, Zabuza was taken out by a hunter ninja with needles to the neck.

"Thank you for giving me an opening to attack, i've been tracking him for months now. If you would be so kind as to hand over the blade, i need proof of the kill and it belongs in the mist." Izuna wasn't having it though, she knew Zabuza was alive and well. All her gentle fist training with her mother and being able to see into others bodys ment she knew killing with a strike like that wasn't possible.

"How about you take your friend and run before i get mad." Izuna said with a hand on her sword.

"What makes you think-" but before the fake hunter could finish Izuna interrupted.

"Because i know he is alive, just go." the hunter appeared to think on this for a few moments before grabbing Zabuza and body flickering out of there.

"Well that was entertaining, nice work Izuna also catch me." Kakashi said as he collapsed from exhaustion.

**Kakashi **

He was warm and comfortable and judging by the voices he could hear he was safe, so he decided to ponder what had happened in the last fight. He was once again surprised by his students, they had no fear of Zabuza even after he himself was caught. Judging from the ease at which Izuna dealt with him he figured she must have been holding back during the bell test. So this left Kakashi with a question '**how strong is she really?' **he also wondered about Naruto.

If she was already at jonin level without trying all that hard at thirteen years old, he shuddered to think about her power in the future. He broke down everything he knew about her in his mind over and over, but he still didn't know how she gained so much strength so fast.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Izunas voice, he hadn't even realised she was in the room with him.

"How long are you going to pretend to be asleep?" even though he hadn't seen her speak he could hear the grin in her voice.

"Must you take the fun out of all my habits." he asked with a loud sigh.

"Well if it makes you feel better, i read your book while you were asleep and i gotta say… you have a rather interesting taste in literature." he opened his eye at this statement, it took him completely by surprise, she had a habit of doing that. He took in her expression and it was pure amusement, he was expecting a blush or disgust but no she was amused.

"Well i cant say im happy that you took my book, but at least you aren't hitting me for being a pervert like most girls would." she looked at him in his eye before responding.

"Oh please, I'm a ninja. My job description is to fight and kill for my village, a little porn isn't enough to upset me." Kakashi was impressed with her maturity, he felt like that was a daily occurrence now.

**Sakura **

Kakashi had told Sakura to climb a tree with nothing but her chakra, she found this far easier than she expected. Though she was a little annoyed that Izuna and Naruto could already do this, they could even walk on water which was her next task once she mastered the tree walking training.

She thought back to that last fight with Zabuza,she was useless yet again. How could she become a jonin if she never helped anyone on even a single mission. She wondered what Izuna and Naruto were doing since they didn't need this training. When this mission was over Sakura was going to train everyday until she collapsed.

She wanted to be a jonin and she couldn't do that unless she steps up and pushes herself. She would become strong and stop being dead weight to her team, she didn't think she could catch up to Naruto or Izuna but she was going to try.

**Izuna **

It had been some time since the last fight with Zabuza and she honestly didn't expect him to come back for another round, but there he stood with the fake hunter ninja next to him. A thick mist was rolling in around them and she rolled her eyes, she could easily see through it with her dojutsu. Zabuza was giving her a death glare leaking killer intent, his gaze drifted to Naruto who had his blade resting on his shoulder with a grin on his face.

"See something you like?" Naruto asked when Zubuza growled in response he let out a short laugh. In an instant Kakashi had charged at Zabuza pushing away from everyone else and into the mist. The fake hunter ninja knew how strong Izuna was so he decided to use his jutsu from the start.

Mirrors made of ice formed around the genin of team seven trapping them inside and stopping them from aiding their sensei. Izuna activated her eyes and took in all the details, she couldn't copy this technique because it was a bloodline limit.

**Kakashi**

He had been fighting Zabuza for a little while now and it was clear that without his blade Kakashi was the better fighter, he hadn't even been scratched yet. Zabuza had taken some damage though, cuts bruises and a few teeth missing. He growled like a wild animal before he spoke.

"Enjoy this while you can, but Haku won't lose to your team, hes much stronger than me." Kakashi decided to end this and go help his team but before he could form any hand signs he heard the unmistakable sound of the chidori. But that couldn't be right, that was his jutsu and no one else knew it, he looked towards the source of the sound as did Zabuza. He watched as an ice mirror shattered under the force of a chidori wrapped fist, he could tell it was Izuna and was baffled as to how she knew it.

Then more and more mirrors shattered until none remained, he watched as Izuna threw fists and kicks at Haku without letting up and finished with a flurry of punches to the face that Kakashi could see even with his Sharingan. Haku fell backwards into unconsciousness, he glanced back to Zabuza only to see him charging at her. Before he could reach her Naruto kicked out his leg tripping him, before Zabuza could recover Naruto put the stolen blade to the back of his neck stopping him in his tracks. Before anyone could make another move a voice from the distance spoke up.

"Should have guessed you would fail, i wasn't going to pay you anyway. Alright boys lets show these so called ninja why they dont mess with me." it came from a short man in a black suit, Kakashi assumed this was Gato.

"What are you stupide, if two jonin level ninjas couldn't take us what makes you think you can do the job?" Naruto asked the group of thugs in the distance.

"We outnumber you and half of these men are former samurai," Gato said with arrogance.

"Some washed up thugs and failed warriors, yeah you got this." Izuna spoke with a great deal of sarcasm. Gato went to speak again but was silenced when a dozen shuriken struck him, he died almost instantly. The thugs were all a little scared by this but didn't back down, it was the girl who threw them and they all internally agreed to take her first.

Before they could make a move Haku had stood up and brushed himself off, he removed his mask and looked to Naruto. Naruto let Zabuza up but didn't return his blade, Zabuza pulled out a kunai and charged at the thugs with Haku doing the same with his senbon. Izuna watched all this with mild interest and looked to Kakashi.

"Since he's a rogue ninja are we still killing him?" she asked

"I think we should just leave them be, he has no reason to target the bridge builder anymore." She nodded her head and looked back to the carnage, most of the thugs were dead and the ones who weren't were long gone.

After the thugs were gone Zabuza stood across from them, he looked deep in thought.

"One day ill come for my blade brat, so you better be ready for that." Izuna smirked at that and Naruto looked ready for another fight, Haku bowed and used a body flicker taking Zabuza with him.

**Kakashi **

He was lost in thought yet again, Izuna knew his technique and he had no idea how. He thought that maybe she created it the same way he did but found that answer unlikely and unsatisfying. He couldn't shake the feeling she was more than what she seemed, he got a similar feeling from Naruto but nowhere near as intense. He had a lot to think about and plenty of time to consider the information, the trip back would take some time after all.

**Naruto **

Naruto had come to a decision, he was going to keep Zabuza's blade and master it. He also made another choice, one that might backfire. It might render all the progress he made until this point meaningless but he would do it and deal with any and all consequences. But he had a feeling, an unfamiliar but not unwelcome feeling that nothing bad would come of this strange choice.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: decisions

**Sakura**

It had been a few days since they returned from the mission and Sakura was still having a hard time processing what happened. Not the enemy ninja attack or her training or anything that simple, she still couldn't understand how Izuna killed Gato like it was no big deal. She seemed so at ease with it that in truth Sakura was a little nervous around her now. She honestly didn't understand how she did it, it seemed like it wasn't her first kill too even though she knew it was. All in all she was at a loss on what to feel about her teammate, Naruto didn't seem to mind and she wondered how he dealt with it so casually as well.

She was brought out of her thoughts when she walked past a raman stand called Ichirakus, she could hear Naruto's voice and decided to peak her head in for a look. She saw him sitting there next to Izuna. They were both wearing normal clothes, they were talking quietly to each other. Sakura decided not to intrude, that and she was still nervous around Izuna.

**Izuna **

"How the hell did I end up here?" Izuna asked herself quietly, she glanced up at Naruto who was on his fifth bowl of raman. It never stopped amusing her the way he ate the stuff, he practically drank it in two mouthfuls. She thought back to the conversation that brought her here.

_(Flashback) _

"_Hey Izuna, I was wondering if you want to grab something to eat?" She considered this for a moment._

"_No i'm good thanks." Naruto looked disappointed as she turned to leave._

"_Wait… i don't know why i'm so nervous, technically i'm like in my thirties. Im trying to ask you out." he said with a blush._

"_Yeah i just said no, i'm not hungry." she replied not knowing what he was getting at._

"_No it's not about food." he said getting a little louder than she would prefer. _

"_Then why ask?" she was getting annoyed now, he took a deep breath before responding. _

"_I'm trying to ask you out on a date Izuna." She looked at him for a moment in shock, her arch enemy. The man who had killed her and many friends and family members, had just asked her out on a date. This had to be a dream or a genjutsu, she found the very idea of this happening complete bullshit. But after activating her dojutsu she realised it wasn't an illusion._

"_Why did you use your eyes just now?" he asked confused she just sighed and responded simply._

"_Just checking for genjutsu." he smiled brightly at that and looked at her expectantly. She analysed this from every angle she could think of, when she used her eyes she could see his chakra network was in-flux and his heartbeat was faster than normal. This ment that he was nervous, so she decided to dig a little before giving him an answer._

"_Why?" was all she asked, it was all she needed to ask. He didn't miss a beat._

" _Because I think you're great, we never knew each other last time around other than our fighting skills. So over the years I've come to admire you, your sense of sarcastic humor and badass fighting style. The way you try to hide your smiles, but above everything i realised that your heart is what makes you truly beautiful. You try to hide it but you care very deeply for people and that's why i admire you." _

_Izuna was at a loss now, she didn't know he had paid such close attention to her. She did hide her smiles and care for others, she acted like she couldn't care less but it was just an act and he saw through her so easily. She came to admire him also though it was mainly his attitude, his drive to gain more strength to protect those around him. _

"_Fine but i have one condition." Izuna stated though she honestly couldn't believe she was agreeing to this, everyone from her past life would be rolling in their graves if they knew. _

"_What is it" he asked in undisguised excitement she was surprised he was so happy._

"_I want a fight, at our full power." She really wanted to know how close to her old level she was._

"_Sure can i have a condition?" he asked her and she already knew what he wanted and just sighed in defeat, she nodded her head at him._

"_I want to go to Ichirakus!" he yelled in victory, Izuna didn't hate the raman stand she just wasn't all that crazy about it like him._

"_Fine." _

_(Flashback end)_

She sighed yet again, she honestly was having a good time and she really didn't want to admit that. She wasn't used to wearing normal clothes in public but in this instance it was nice, Naruto and Izuna had been talking about their old life off the battlefield. She realised they were very similar in many ways and she didn't know how she felt about that, if they had just sat down and talked to each other they could have ended the war.

Izuna was a little sad the night was over, again she didn't want to admit it to herself. They were standing at a crossroads, her house was to the left and his was to the right. Naruto was fidgeting, he had no idea what to do and Izuna found that funny.

"Why are you acting like a confused teenager?" She asked not bothering to hide her bright smile.

"Because I am." He shouted a little louder than necessary.

"In body sure but not in mind." He just grunted and crossed his arms. "You haven't ever been on a date have you?"

"No… wait have you?" He asked with wide eyes.

"Of course, I was the next clan head so I was always being set up with people my dad thought… acceptable." Naruto let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Well how did they end?" He asked her, she stepped forward and grabbed his collar, dragging him into her. Their lips met in a quick kiss and she pushed him back and turned to leave.

"Like that." she said then disappeared in a body flicker.

**Kakashi**

Kakashi was actually upset with Izuna this time, he arrived to the team meeting on time and she was over an hour late. He still hadn't talked to her about what happened on the last mission, mainly because he doesn't know what to say. Izuna had killed without a second thought and knew his technique, he had no idea how she knew it and it was driving him crazy.

"You're late!" Naruto and Sakura cried out at the same time when Izuna sat next to them.

"Sorry a black cat crossed my path so i took a different route, then i helped a nice old lady get home. After that I got lost on the path of life and lost track of time, then I got lunch and read a book." she said all this with a straight face looking Kakashi dead in the eye.

He decided to get creative with her punishment at a later date, but first he had a more important task.

"Alright you made your point, listen i feel the three of you are more than ready. I've signed you all up for the chunin exams. You can choose not to take them if you think you aren't ready, they begin in one week so you have time to think." After that little speech he poofed into smoke and left them alone, he was sure they would take them and pass with ease.

**Naruto**

Naruto was walking through the village, he was thinking about his date with Izuna. He couldn't get it off his mind, he loved every second of it and he wanted to do it again. He hoped she felt the same. As he was walking he could hear some shouting down the path he was on, he noticed a guy with purple face paint holding a little kid by the collar about to punch him. Naruto decided to help him out and body flickered right next to them and grabbed the face painted guys wrist, he started to squeeze really hard.

"I think that's enough." He said with a low threatening voice, his eyes shifting to red with a slit pupils. The guy with the face paint started to struggle, and was in a lot of pain.

"Dammit let me go you freak." Naruto complied with this request and released him. Purple face paint then reached for the wrapped object on his back but was stopped by a rock to the face. "Really?" Naruto looked to the source of the rock and saw Izuna sitting in a tree looking bored.

"I suggest you calm down, your red headed friend looks very upset with you." she said in an amused tone.

"Interesting." a deep voice rang out from the branch just below Izuna, the boy who hung there burst into sand and reformed in front of Naruto. "I apologise for my brother, he is a disgrace and will be punished." The red head looked Naruto in the eyes, they shifted from red slits to deep blue orbs. He and his team left without another word.

Naruto turned to Izuna but she was gone, he sighed and looked at the kid he saved. The kid had stars in his eyes and was drooling, Naruto was at a loss for words.

**Izuna**

She was walking to the first exam with her team, she wasn't really paying attention to what they were talking about. She was thinking about a few things, that redhead she saw was among them. He looked familiar to her but she couldn't place him, she didn't remember him from her past life but she couldn't shake the feeling that she knew him. She was also thinking about her date with Naruto, she had decided that if he asked her again she would say yes. They were already scheduled to fight at full power and that's all she wanted for now. At least that was what she kept telling herself, they were walking down a hallway and noticed a bunch of people standing around a door to a fake exam room, the genjutsu was weak and she saw right through it.

She and her team kept walking, if the others couldn't see through it then they were not going to pass anyway.

"Izuna Hyuga Uchiha, I wish to challenge you to a contest of youth." a very loud voice called out, Izuna turned towards it with a tick mark on her head. She was greeted with a grining bowl cut and bushy brows with ridiculous green spandex.

"... umm… what?" she asked not really sure why she wasn't running the other way. He gave her a thumbs up before he spoke.

"I wish to test my hard work against your natural talent, so please fight me. Sakura if i can defeat Izuna will you be my girlfriend?" Sakura had her jaw to the flaw in shock.

"Your kidding right? Look how about we just be friends." she replied to him with a hesitant smile.

"Very well, my name is Rock Lee and it's an honor to be your friend, Izuna do you accept my challenge?" The now named Lee asked, Izuna just face palmed and let out an enormous sigh.

"Fine but seriously you need to tone back your energy a little, maybe go all the way and relax once in a while." Lee just grinned and led the way to a large open room to have a quick fight. A took his stance and got ready to attack, Izuna just stood there with her arms crossed.

Lee leapt into the air and tried to kick Izuna in the face, she leaned slightly back and his foot passed by without even a scratch. He charged at her with a fist this time, she deflected the blow with the swipe of her hand with seemingly no effort. More kicks and punches followed but all were dodged, blocked or parried.

Lee was starting to get ready for some kind of special move, his arm wraps were loose and he was about to charge. But an almost identical older version of Lee grabbed his shoulder before he could move.

"Lee! You were told never to use that." Lee looked like he was about to jump out of his skin in fear, he turned slowly shaking at the knees. The older copy of Lee cocked his arm ready to punch Lee in the face, Izuna jumped in the way and caught his fist, with some difficulty.

"Hey no it's fine, it was my idea don't take it out on him." Izuna didn't know why she did it but she didn't want to see him get bludgend over a friendly match.

"Very well, however no more until the exams are over. Your youth burns bright." He said with a thumbs up.

"Izuna you are truly a great fighter, it seems i will have to train harder to prove myself against you." Lee stated with absolute seriousness.

"Lee relax will you, you're a lot better than you think." He smiled at this and gave a thumbs up just like his clone/sensei.

**Naruto**

Naruto was more than a little nervous now, the first exam was half over and he couldn't answer the last four questions. He didn't want to be the reason his team failed, he glanced to Izuna and Sakura. Izuna was twirling her pencil around her fingers with her eyes closed, she looked carefree so she must be finished. Sakura was checking over her answers, she would get them all right he knew it so that just left him.

"Naruto, you can… copy from me if you want." he looked up and saw Hinata with a blush sliding her paper under her arm so he could see it. He wondered why she would do that, he could only remember one time they actually spoke to each other and that was when they were children. He looked to one of the proctors and noticed him staring, he knew this would never work.

"Thanks Hinata but i'll get this done my way." he gave her a toothy grin and she just blushed and nodded her head. Pretty soon the final seconds were upon him and he hadn't gotten any further so he just hoped he did well enough.

"Alright listen up, this last question has its own rules. If you get it wrong you will never be allowed to take this exam again, however if you leave now you may take the exam again in the future." After this declaration people started leaving left and right, Naruto noticed Hinata about to quit and grabbed her arm.

"It's a trick don't worry about it." He whispered to her, she didn't know how he knew but she trusted him so she stayed put. He glanced at his team and they seemed content to continue on.

"Alright for those of you willing to risk your future careers on this… you pass." the trench coat wearing procter stated. Before he had a chance to elaborate a purple haired women in a tan trench coat burst through the window and took up a spot next to the man. She went on to explain that the first test was over and that the fun begins next.

"Now all of you come with me… oh and follow me too." She said, waiting to see if anyone caught on to the joke. They were too focused to catch it which bothered the hell out of her.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: New threat

**Sakura**

Sakura and her team were jumping through the trees, the forest of the death was a dark and looming place and she was grateful for her company. Even if Izuna did make her uneasy, the forrest was still worse.

"Alright let's take a break." Izuna called out to Sakura, they dropped to the ground in sync and Sakura sat down with a deep sign.

"Man this place is horrible." Sakura said she looked to Naruto who had removed Zabuza's blade from his back and started to clean it. She looked to Izuna next who had taken a book out from seemingly nowhere.

"Hey isn't that the book Kakashi always reads?" Sakura asked quietly.

"He reads a book series, not one book. Also yes it is." Izuna responded without even glancing at her.

"Well is it good?" Naruto asked, he had stopped cleaning his blade to listen to the conversation.

"Oh yeah… definitely." Sakura was about to ask another question but Naruto beat her to it.

"What's it about?" Sakura wanted to know as well, she had seen Kakashi giggle his head off so many times while reading.

"Well it's basically porn with a story." Izuna said with a deadpan expression, Sakura and Naruto took a few moments to process what she said.

"WHAT!" they screamed together, they couldn't believe it was she really reading porn? Right now?

"Oh please… we are ninja."

"Izuna are you seriously into that stuff?" Naruto yelled.

"Don't be such a prude." was all Izuna said in reply, Sakura was at a loss for words, Kakashi read porn in public all the time and now Izuna.

**Naruto**

Naruto and the rest of team seven had been traveling through the forest for hours and still hadn't run into anyone else. He was thinking about Kakashi and Izunas reading habits, he still couldn't believe she was reading it he knew in her mind she was far older than her body but to everyone else she was a thirteen year old girl reading porn. He would be lying if he said he didn't find it interesting. He was brought out of his thoughts when he and the team landed in a small clearing, he could sense killer intent and he looked to Sakura who was trembling in fear.

A man in a yellow shirt with a purple around his eyes, snake like slits for pupils came strolling out of the tree line.

"Really? A little killer intent, that's all you got?" Izuna asked in a bored tone, the man giggled for a few seconds.

"Ah how interesting, to be so unaffected by my presence. Truly amazing." he said in his low almost seductive voice. Naruto reached for his blade but Izuna stopped him.

"Grab Sakura and go." Naruto was about to protest but saw the look in her eyes, he nodded and left taking Sakura with him.

**Izuna**

Izuna drew one of her purple blades after Naruto left and made hand signs with one hand. "Fire style: fire dragon jutsu," the flaming dragon tore across the land in an attempt to kill the snake man. He avoided this attack with a grin never leaving his face.

Izuna channeled a chidori through her sword and sped towards the man and started slashing and stabbing, the man avoided all her attacks with ease which annoyed Izuna. She channeled more chakra into her sword and extended the chidori, the extra few feet allowed her to cut off one of his arms.

Izuna smirked at the damage she caused but it was short lived, hands shot out of his mouth and forced his jaw open. Another completely fine snake man was now in front of her.

"What the hell is this bullshit?" she asked herself quietly, the man heard her and laughed at her. This angered her, she was about to use her dojutsu and take the fight seriously but didn't get a chance. The man in front of her burst into hundreds of small snakes and before she could even glance around for the real one she felt an immense pain on her neck.

The snake man had bitten her, but the pain was nothing like it should be. She screamed in pain as he continued to hold her with his teeth. Once he finally released her she stumbled forward clutching her neck in pain. She refused to fall or drop her weapon, she turned to look at him but he was already disolving into the ground.

"I'm going to kill you." she threatened the space he had once been standing. The pain was intense but she had dealt with worse before, so she jumped through the trees looking for her team. She wouldn't pass out until she found them, no matter how much agony she was in.

**Sakura **

Sakura didn't know what to do, Izuna had stumbled through the trees and passed out as soon as she got within a few feet of Naruto. She had a mark on her neck and she was burning up, Naruto was calm and controlled the whole time. But Sakura was a mess, she was once again useless to her team and to make matters worse she was freaking out. Izuna was the strongest person she knew and she was out of action which means whoever took her out was no joke.

Sakura wanted to help or contribute in some way, but every time something happened she was useless and was driving her nuts. She was jealous of her teammates skills, she knew they weren't trying to make her feel this way but she couldn't help it. They were so strong and she was so weak, if Naruto wasn't here and another team attacked she was sure Izuna would die and it would be all her fault.

**Naruto**

Naruto was freaking out, on the outside he was calm, controlled and confident. But on the inside he was in full panic, Izuna was beaten and he didn't know how it was possible. He wasn't stupid enough to think he and Izuna were the strongest in this world, at least not yet. But among genin they should be without question the strongest, so this led him to believe that whoever beat her was not a genin. The mark on her neck also had him worried, he could feel natural energy in it and didn't know what to make of that fact.

His shadow clone on guard duty popped which alerted him to three sound ninja approaching.

"We have company, wait here and look after her." he said to Sakura and he stepped out of their hiding place, he drew his giant blade off of his back and held it loosely in one hand. Naruto needed to vent his frustration and decided to play with these three idiots. He jammed his blade into the earth and stepped away from it, he crossed his arms over his chest and waited for them to make a move.

A/N: really short one i know but im new to this and im working on some other stuff as well.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: seriously?

**Thor94: hey dude not sure what you mean by make Naruto pathetic he is Izunas equal. Is it because he dosnt talk no jutsu people? Anyway let me know all feedback is good to me.**

**Sakura**

Sakura watched as Naruto practicaly danced around the three sound ninja, she watched him appear behind the guy that looked like a mummy and kick the back of his leg out. He then grabbed his head and tossed him at the long haired girl. She caught him but fell to the ground, the other guy with tubes in his hands tried to do something but Naruto kneed him in the stomece which dropped him to the ground gasping for breath.

She watched all this with worry, she saw Naruto was toying with them. She never saw him do this before and it worryed her, Naruto kept the beatdown going never letting them get even one attack off.

Sakura stopped watching them when she felt a gust of air from behind her, she turned to see Izuna standing slowly. Half her body was covered in strange black markings, she gripped the entrace to their hideout and it crumpled under the force of her grip.

**Izuna**

Izuna was pissed off and seeing red, she wanted blood and the people in front of her would do. After she got to her feet she looked into their eyes, they were afraid, she was leaking so much killer intent that a tailed beast would be jelous. She body flickered next to the long haired girl and drew her sword in the same movement. Before they could even turn to look she drove the blade into her thigh, the long haired girl let out a cry of pain.

The guy with tubes in his hands tryed to help his team mate, he fired one of his sound waves at her but she was gone by the time it reached her location. His team mate was on the ground clutching her leg trying to stop the bleeding. He looked to find the girl responsible but couldn't locate her, he looked to the other leaf ninja.

"Where is she?" he screamed at them.

"Right behind you." Izuna grabbed his shoulder from behind then she hit his arm with the flat of her sword, breaking it. He let out a cry as he went to the ground. Naruto appeard infront of her with a scowl.

"Thats enough Izuna calm down." his voice we serious and his blue eyes had shifted to red.

"I think it's time for us to fight Naruto what do you say? We did have a deal after all." she wanted blood, her mind was clouded and her adrenelin was going crazy. She wanted to fight him again.

"After the exams are over, but you have to stop this." She thought over his words the haze in her mind had lifted slightly. The marks over her body started to recead and she could think clearly again. She was breathing heavily and very tired. She looked to her three opponents and saw they were gone, their scroll had been left behind.

**Naruto**

After they had arrived at the tower and the preliminarys had been anounced Naruto was excited, he wanted to get this over with so he could try and help Izuna. She had been using natural energy like his own sage mode, not as strong but it was definitly a problem. The first match had been selected and it was Izuna against some weird looking guy with a vail over his face.

Naruto knew this fight if you could even call it that wouldnt last long. Once the match had begun Izuna darted forward catching the mans face in her hand and throwing him into the wall, makeing a small crater in it. The man was out within the first few seconds of the so called match, Naruto laughed quietly to himself.

(Cannon fights will be skipped so moveing on) Naruto was next, up against Kiba.

"Dont think i havent gotten stronger Naruto, i will take you down." Kiba said while smirking, Naruto just smiled and waited for the match to start. Kiba charged forward with an elbow to the mid section which was blocked by Narutos own. He then jumped back giving his dog something which then transformed into a copy of himself. Naruto wast worried at all and just waited, Kiba came at him with his copy by his side.

"Fang over Fange" he yelled while spining at high speeds, Naruto waited and waited. The attack was almost upon him now so he dropped to the ground while the attack passed over him. Once they had stopped and got ready for another attack Naruto punched the clone Kiba hard enough in the stomach to knock him out. The clone changed back into the dog.

"No, Ackamaru!" Naruto than grabbed Kiba by the coller and held a kunai to his throat.

"Give up Kiba." he said with a neutral tone. With that the match was over.

**Sakura**

Sakura was excited, she got to face off against Ino and put her training to the test. She wanted a chance to prove herself and getting to the finals would be the first step.

She stood in front of her rival with a dertained smile, she was going to beat her and pass this test for her team and for herself. She match began and Sakura went on the attack, throwing a right hook at Ino. Ino blocked this but didn't see the follow up high kick and caught in on her chin. She jumped back and wipped the blood from her mouth, Ino went to use her clan jutsu but was stopped in her tracks by a kunai with a paper bomb attached.

Ino dived ut of the way of the blast, while on the ground Sakura kicked her in the side of the head sending her rolling across the ground. Ino wasn't knocked out but she was seeing double when she stood up. Sakura was once again upon her not letting Ino get her bearings for even a second. Ino got hit with an uppercut to the chin and then a knee to abdomen, then after Ino doubled over in pain Sakura kneed her in the face putting her down for good.

Sakura was anounced as the victor and she couldn't be happyer, her training had made her better than her rival. She was proud that she could finaly do something and win a fight.

A/N: so im skipping over the one month training, and jumping right into the exam finals. I might show the training in a flashback or something like that. Also Dosu is alive and in the finals he didn't attack Garra and Sakura is his opponent. Chapters are short because not a lot has changed just yet, i dont want to write stuff that happened originaly.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The finals

**Naruto**

It was time, Naruto was up against Neji. he knew this wasn't going to be difficult but he didn't want to end the fight too fast either. He had Zabuza's blade sealed in a scroll, he didn't need it against Neji. the match began and Neji got into a fighting stance, dojutsu activated, he looked focused. Naruto knew the byakugan's blind spot but didn't think he needed to exploit it, after all he Izuna didn't have a blind spot and he always managed to fight on even ground with her.

"It's your fate to lose to me." Neji said right before he charged, he threw gentil fist strikes at Naruto but couldn't connect. Naruto was dodging and ducking and his hands were by his side the whole time. He punched Neji in the chest to gain a little distance, he must have hit a little too hard because he was clutching his chest in pain.

Naruto then created one shadow clone to charge Neji, the clone went for a right hook but Neji used the rotation technique to pop the clone. Naruto smirked and formed a rasengan in his left hand, Neji looked afraid and took a step back. Naruto charged and right before impact Neji used the rotation again, Naruto slammed the ball of chakra into the rotation dome. It grinded against it for a few seconds before over powering it, Neji was sent flying back skipping across the ground and finally crashing into the far wall, cracking the surface.

When Neji failed to get up Naruto was made the winner, with a large grin he returned to the stands to watch the next match.

**Sakura**

She had watched Naruto dominate his fight and was feeling nervous, she had trained her ass off with Kakashi for this match but she wasn't sure she could do it. She knew that he used some kind of sound based attack, she figured it had a limited range but she didn't have any ranged jutsu.

As she walked to the arena she was trying to forget her worries, if she second guessed herself in the fight she could die. She just hoped Kakashi's training paid off. Once she was in front of the living mummy her breathing became even and her heart rate slowed, she was calm.

The match began and Sakura immediately jumped back gaining some distance, the sound ninja chased her without thinking. This was what she was planning on, she had placed a paper bomb on the bottom of feet and used chakra to keep it in place but just before she jumped she let it fall to the ground. The sound ninja stepped on it and it blew, though he was able to escape the blast he had a burn on his leg.

While he was checking his injury she threw a dozen shuriken with wire attached, he dodged but he had done exactly what she wanted yet again. She pulled on the wire and the shuriken came back towards him, he managed to avoid being tied up but his arm with the metal thing on it was caught. Sakura could see the wire cutting into him, his arm was bleeding and a small puddle of blood formed at his feet.

The sound ninja was yanking on the wires trying to free himself but Sakura held firm, he was screaming in pain now and Sakura wished he would give up. She was resolved to win no matter what so she took a breath and heaved on the wire as hard as she could, she heard her opponent scream in agony as he fell forwards face first. She jumped into the air before he could stand and pulled out a kunai, aiming for the back of the neck. Before she made contact she was stopped by the procter, the sound ninja was unconscious and she was announced as the winner.

For the first time since joining team seven she felt like she wasn't a failure, she felt proud.

**Izuna **

It was time for her match, she wasn't in a rush to enter the arena. Garra was already there waiting, but Izuna was slowly walking down the steps. Taking as long as she could to make Garra mad.

Once she arrived and the match had began Garras sand came at her without him even controlling it, Izuna was flipping and dodging all of the sand with ease though it was faster than she expected.

After she had avoided his attacks she stood in one place near the wall of the arena, she wanted to try a new technique. She made the hand signs and waited for the sand to return. Garra growled and sent a huge wave of sand at her, it was coming from all sides and she knew it was now or never. As the sand came crashing around her she launched her jutsu. "Chidori barrier" a small dome of lightning surrounded her repelling the sand, Izuna thought the dome would be bigger but figured it was due to the small amount of chakra she had used.

Once the barrier was down she drew one of her swords and channeled chidori into it, at the same time she pulled out some shuriken and channeled chidori into those too. She threw the shuriken, they plowed through Garras sand like it wasn't even there. As he looked on in shock at his sands failure Izuna appeared in front of him, she ran him through the shoulder with her blade.

Garra screamed in pain and the sand around him went crazy, Izuna retreated back a few metres. She watched as the sand made a dome around him blocking him from view.

**Kakashi**

He looked on in amazement at his student, not only did she know his technique but she had mastered it even better than he had. He didn't know what to think of her. He noticed feathers falling from the sky and realised what was about to happen, he looked to the crowd and saw them falling over asleep.

**Izuna**

She had been stopped many times in her pursuit of Garra, this annoyed her greatly. She knew Garra was different and he seemed familiar to her, he was the host of the one tails. She never met the host in her past life but she had fought the beast itself. She wasn't sure why she was chasing him, maybe she wanted to keep her friends safe from the beast.

Once she finally caught up to him she stopped and examined, he looked like he was about to transform. Half his body looked like a tiny one tailed beast, he also had a tail. He sent his transformed arm at her and she jumped higher into the trees.

She decided to end this fight before he could transform, she made hand signs for a fire dragon but before she could use the jutsu hr curse mark froze her in place. She couldn't move and her strength felt like it was being drained, she was in pain too and didn't know what to do. She couldn't even use her dojutsu, Garras sand came at her again but this time she could do nothing about it.

Before it connected with her she was scooped up by someone and dropped on a branch away from the attack. It was Naruto who had saved her. He stepped past her and jumped at Garra a rasengan in both his hands. His attacks plowed through Gara's sand and into his chest sending the red flying to the ground.

Naruto waited to see if he re emerged, he knew from experience that a host was not easy to kill. As he was thinking about it a giant sand beast rose up above the treeline, Naruto thought for a moment on how to deal with this. Izuna was suddenly standing next to him, she looked tired but ready to fight.

"I don't have much left but i can keep the sand off you." Naruto looked to her before responding.

"You sure?" he asked she just nodded her head, Naruto grinned and bit his thumb and slammed his palm into the ground. "Summoning jutsu."

**Naruto**

As the enormous smoke cloud cleared Naruto and Izuna found themselves on top of the chief toads head.

"Alright listen up, we need you to get us in close. We will take care of the rest." Naruto said to the giant toad. The chief toad jumped into action, literally. He jumped to avoid air bullets and fired off his own water bullets. This went on for a few minutes before the stalemate was broken, the toad charged head first at the beast and stabbed his sword through its chest.

Izuna and Naruto didn't waste the chance, the jumped off the toads head and onto the tailed beasts. As they ran towards Garras unconscious body the sand around them erupted into action trying to kill them. Izuna charged her sword with chidori and cut down the sand around Naruto giving him a clear path. Once he was a few feet in front of him her foot was caught in the sand, Naruto was about to be caught to so she charged a handful of shuriken with chidori and threw them then cast the shadow clone sign. This made dozens of charged shuriken that cut threw all the sand around Naruto, he pulled his fist back and punched Garra with a huge right hook.

Garra was sent flying to the ground making a crater on impact. The tailed beast disappeared along with the chief toad, Naruto and Izuna fell from their positions. Izuna couldn't break her fall, the curse mark had rendered her useless yet again, Naruto shot a red chakra arm out to catch her before she hit the ground.

Once they landed safely Naruto walked over to Garra who was beaten and bloody.

"Garra, I don't want to kill you. I know what it's like to bear the burden of a tailed beast." Izuna called out before Garra could speak.

"What are you doing, kill him and be done with it." Naruto sighed to himself.

"I don't want to, we don't have to kill every enemy. Garra i want you to leave and i don't want to see you again, not unless you change."

Quickly after he said this the other two sand ninja showed up to collect Garra and they took off. As Naruto walked back to Izuna she spoke again.

"It would have been a lot easier if you just killed him."

"We don't have to kill all the time anymore, we aren't at war anymore." Naruto picked her up and took off back to the village.

"Yeah whatever, thanks by the way. I'm not sure what would have happened if you didn't save me." Naruto just smiled at her and kept jumping through the trees headed for home.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Confrontation

**Izuna**

She couldn't find the right time to ask Naruto for the fight she had been promised, he loved the old hokage and she couldn't bring herself to upset him more. These feelings pissed her off to no end, she never used to care about such things but now it's all she could think about.

She wanted to talk to him, he was used to loved ones dying in battle but he seemed especially upset about this. She figured it was because there was no war to fight, when you had to fight for your life daily you learn to push your emotions down really fast.

She was walking down the street headed for his house, she was going to take the blond idiot out to dinner and try to cheer him up. Or at the very least keep him from suffering alone.

It didn't take long for her to arrive at his house, she thought about knocking on his front door but decided not too, instead she tapped on his kitchen window a few times. The curtains were pushed aside by a bandaged hand, he looked better than she was expecting but he didn't look like he had eaten in days. She waved and he sighed and slid open the window letting her in.

She jumped into the room and landed lightly, she looked around and noticed the lack of light in his home. "Hey Naruto… you wanna grab something to eat?"

He laughed a little at that but there was no humor in it, "No… but thanks… i'm just going to stay home."

Izuna put a hand on his shoulder before he turned away from her. "Do you have any food here?" He looked her in the eye and gave a faint smile and nodded his head. " Then sit down, i'll make something, you look like you haven't eaten in days."

"That's because i haven't ."

**Naruto**

He opened the door of his hotel room to a sight he could never have expected, Itachi was standing there in a cloak with a red cloud pattern along with a blue skinned fish looking man. Naruto knew what he did to his clan and he couldn't imagine why, he knew of Itachi's kind heart from the rare times Izuna spoke about him. Without wasting a second Naruto channeled some of the foxes chakra and blasted the two men out of the building with a burst of air, he then unsealed Zabuza's blade and jumped out to them.

He stood with his guard up waiting for them to make a move on him, red chakra swirled around him kicking up dust and he was leaking killer intent.

"Well well, This ones much better than I was expecting. Mind if I take him out Itachi?"

The man in question turned his disinterested gaze onto his partner. "And why are you so eager Kisame?"

"That's Zabuza's blade, I want to see how good the kid is with it." He grinned and pulled his own sword off of his back.

"Fine, but don't get carried away, we need him alive after all."

"Got it." Kisame charged at Naruto with a powerful overhand swing, which was deflected by the blond with ease, Naruto tossed his blade into the air which caught the blue man off guard. Naruto made a few hand signs and fired an air bullet at Kisame, his blade absorbed the attack but Naruto had acquired his sword and went for the man's legs. Kisame jumped away from the attack looking impressed, he was having fun after all.

Naruto heard a loud crash and saw dust and debris in the location that Itachi was in. After a moment of locking blades with Kisame, Naruto saw Itachi run out of the smoke with Izuna in hot pursuit, Chidori in hand. Itachi didn't look concerned, in fact he still had one of his arms hanging loosely out of the front of his cloak.

**Izuna**

She watched as her brother's sharakugan spun lazily while he stood before her, he looked so calm, like he didn't have a worry in the world. Izuna used a body flicker to appear behind Itachi, she tried to impale him through the back of his shoulder but he burst into crows and pinned her against the wall by the throat.

"You can never hope to kill me dear sister, you don't have enough hate…" He would have continued but he was cut off by her.

"Of course I don't, I tried but no matter how hard i… all i could feel was lonely, you left me alone!" Itachi was confused, she didn't hate him, how was that possible? He couldn't believe it. "Why did you do it?"

He didn't answer her, he couldn't even if he wanted to, he needed her to hate him, it was the only way. He looked her in the eyes and cast Tsukuyomi on her. Though something he never expected happened, she was able to break the jutsu which should have been impossible. She had fallen to the ground and was breathing heavily, when she looked over to him he saw her eyes, she had unlocked mangekyo.

He was at a loss of what to do, he could take her eyes and make the days ahead easier for himself and her going forward. But before he could do anything Kisame burst into view, his cloak was torn up but he was unharmed and still grinning from ear to ear. Then Jiraiya came into view which was his cue to get the hell out of dodge.

**Itachi**

He thought over his encounter with his sister over and over again, he pushed the fact that she had a mangekyo to the back of his mind along with the fact that she didn't hate him. What he was most concerned with was something he noticed while looking at her with his dojutsu, when she first attacked her chakra was strong and focused, but after she broke out of his Tsukuyomi she was out of breath and her chakra was… different.

It wasn't the effect of the curse mark, at least he didn't think it was, it was like her chakra had suddenly spiked then rapidly dropped. He wasn't sure why but it was worrying, he needed to think things over and get a feel for what to do next since his plans had fallen apart in the span of just a few minutes.

**Izuna**

Izuna had been surprised when Naruto returned to the village with Tsunade in tow, the plan was to have her take the seat of hokage, but she had refused on the grounds that she didn't think she was worthy of the position. This left Jiraiya in a bind, he was supposed to take the position if she had refused but he really didn't want to. After some haggling he got Kakashi to take the hat and run the village, he was more than qualified after all.

Izuna had also been feeling fatigue and nausea more often, usually just after the curse mark caused her pain, she was starting to get very concerned about it, she was worried it was killing her from the inside.

**Naruto**

As he dashed through the trees in pursuit of Izuna his mind was racing, he couldn't think of a reason for her to leave the way she had, the sound four didn't force her because they weren't strong enough to even pose a threat. Although she has been much weaker lately, but that didn't explain why she took off after escaping the barrel and why she wouldn't stop no matter how many times he called out to her.

He came to a stop on the head of a giant stone statue, across from him was Izuna on a similar statue. She turned to look at him, one of her eyes was yellow and she had a small amount of those tattoos that come with the use of the curse mark.

"Naruto, now seems like the best time don't you think? An all out fight." Naruto didn't want to fight her, the curse mark was influencing her and there was no telling what it could do if she goes all out.

"Izuna, just come back to the…" He was cut off by a knee to the stomach, one that packed a great deal of strength, she then punched him in the face sending him crashing into a tree a few metres away.

"No more talk, it's time for action." Naruto pulled himself up from the ground, he grit his teeth and clenched his fists. He knew she wouldn't back down now, she was all in and only one thing would end this. Her mark receded and her eye returned to normal, she took a ready stance and prepared for the fight to come.

**Izuna**

"You arrived later than i would have liked but no matter, welcome my dear girl, you don't look very well."

"Naruto is stronger than he looks, and your mark is killing me. I want it gone or fixed." This confused Orochimaru for a moment.

"How do you mean?" She sighed before she answered.

"My strength is leaving me at random times, my chakra spikes and drops and I feel sick." Orochimaru took this in and looked over to Kabuto who nodded and walked to Izuna. His hand was surrounded in a green glow as he placed his hand over her mark. He hummed to himself for a moment and then moved his hand down to her chest and then her stomach, after a few seconds he pushed his glasses up and walked back to his master, he whispered in his ear and moved to the side with a smug grin on his face.

"My dear girl, the curse mark is not to blame for your situation. In fact it's a rather mundane reason and one of your own making."

She was getting sick of his voice, she wanted to get this over and done with so she could go home. "What's with the dramatic pause? Just tell me."

Orochimaru couldn't help the chuckle that came from his mouth, this was totally unexpected and he didn't know what would happen next, but it fascinated him. "My dear child, you're pregnant."

"Oh… well shit."

_**A/N: The fight will be in the next chapter**_


End file.
